1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for actuating a lock on a vehicle door, wherein the term vehicle door includes any type of lid, hatch, flap, hood and the like on a vehicle. The device comprises: a support to be stationarily mounted on the door; a mount mountable on the support and configured either as a lock cylinder mount or as a lock cylinder-free mount (decoy); a shoulder on the mount that engages at least partially in the secured mounting position of the mount a counter shoulder provided on the support; a screw for securing the mounting position of the mount on the support; and an actuating end on the screw for a screwing adjustment of two end positions, i.e., a release position in which the mount can be mounted on or demounted from the support and a locking position in which the mount is secured in its mounting position on the support. In this configuration, the support to be mounted on the door not only supports the handle but also receives a lock cylinder mount or a lock cylinder decoy. The handle upon actuation acts on a lock in the door or the flap etc.; this holds true also for a lock cylinder when it is actuated by a matching key. These two alternatives, i.e., the lock cylinder mount and the lock cylinder decoy, will be referred to in the following simply as “mount”.
2. Description of the Related Art
The devices of this kind are designed to enable, on the one hand, an easy and reliable mounting of the mount within the receptacle of the support and, on the other hand, to secure the mount after having been mounted properly on the support in a reliable way. For this purpose, the mount of the device has a shoulder that, at least in the secured mounting position of the mount, engages at least partially a counter shoulder provided on the support. For securing the mounting position in the mount, a screw is used whose actuating end is accessible from the narrow side of the door.
In a known device of the aforementioned kind, disclosed in German patent DE 30 30 519 C, the screw is a component of the support. The support has a threaded receptacle in which the screw is received. The inner end of the screw serves for securing the mount. Before mounting, the support is already stationarily secured on the inner side of the door and the mount is inserted from the exterior through an opening provided in the outer door panel of the door and is then mounted on the support by a mounting movement. During this mounting process, the screw is unscrewed out of the threaded receptacle to such an extent that the mounting movement for mounting the mount can be carried out; this mounting movement is comprised of an insertion phase and a subsequent displacement phase that is parallel to the insertion position. During this displacement phase of the mounting movement, the shoulder of the mount moves into a position behind the aforementioned counter shoulder on the support. This engaged position of the shoulder and counter shoulder is secured by the screw in that the screw is threaded into the threaded receptacle to such an extent that its inner end is supported on the sidewall of the mount. In this way, a movement reversing the mounting movement for demounting the mount is blocked. The movement of the mount in a reverse movement relative to the mounting movement is prevented by the tightened screw.
There are also devices where the securing action for the mounted mount on the support is not a direct action but is achieved indirectly, as disclosed in German patent application DE 199 50 172 A1. In this case, a slide is slidably received in guides of the support so as to be slidable in parallel. The slide has a threaded receptacle for a screw that is rotatably supported with its actuating end in an axially fixed position within the support. Before beginning the mounting process of the mount, the screw with its threaded inner end is screwed as far as possible into the threaded receptacle of the slide so that the slide is initially in a position remote from the mount. Then, the mount is inserted from the exterior side of the door into the support provided on the inner side of the door. When the screw is turned such that its threaded inner end is moved out of the threaded receptacle of the slide, the slide, because of the axially fixed rotational support of the screw, is moved more and more against the mount and the mount is parallel displaced within the support. This movement of the slide causes not only the mount to be displaced; moreover, the shoulders on the mount are moved behind the counter shoulders of the support and noses provided on the slide are moved into notches provided on the mount. The securing action is realized by the slide moved against the mount.